The duet is, in a sense, jazz at its purest—group…
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Charlie Haden, the world’s most distinctive and enticing bass player, seems to have adopted a new tradition. It started as a special occasion, a dozen years ago, in celebration of his 60th birthday, when he played a week of duets at the Blue Note jazz club in New York, each night with a different pianist. He repeated the experiment on his 70th, and this week he’s doing it again, just short of his 72nd, not a round number, which leads me to suspect he’s doing it—and may do it again, semi-regularly—simply because it’s so thrilling, so fun.
If you're new to hi-fi, you might not be aware of the fiercely controversial and seemingly endless argument regarding the importance of blind listening in determining a component's worth. Essentially, there are those who believe that if differences in sound cannot be perceived while listening blindfolded, or under similarly exhausting, stressful, and inhumane conditions, then differences do not exist, and we're all just full of shit when we tell you that the $30,000 Musical Fidelity Titan sounds nothing at all like the $159 Sonic Impact Super T, that, in fact, they're basically the…
You see, JA, if you play the ride cymbal with a chicken wing, you're bound to get a lot more air in the upper octave… Photo by Jeff Wong.
If you'd like to hear more about the fun times at John DeVore's Monkeyhaus, be sure to read Michael Lavorgna's latest Road Tour.
I like to stop by Sound Opinions, where rock critics, Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot, slap each other in the face with their favorite album covers. No, they don't really do that. Sometimes they agree. They're smart and funny and loveable. Jim is from the Chicago Sun-Times and Greg is from the Chicago Tribune, and they love rock and roll.
This week on Sound Opinions, Jim and Greg will perform a thorough dissection of one of the greatest freaking albums of all freaking time, Prince's Purple Rain, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary.
Here in NYC, you can listen at…
JGH says hello.
A-well-a...Everybody's heard about the bird. B-b-bird, bird, bird. Bird is the word…
"Where did you say this photo was taken, JA?"
"At our 25th Anniversary Party, held at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, in January 1987. I wore a white silk suit with a black shirt and a white bowtie. I looked like a photographic negative."
Among the treasures discovered this morning, we have the very first issue of Stereophile, punk rock-style buttons, several outstanding hi-fi cartoons drawn by JGH, and some absolutely shocking show photos.
Illustrator Jeff Wong is working on a portrait of Stereophile founder, J. Gordon Holt, to appear in our October issue. Since Jeff will need some reference material, John Atkinson and I have been having a whole lot of fun sorting through great, old Stereophile memorabilia, trinkets, photos.
Here is Vol.1 No.1. Wow. The thing nearly turned to dust when I took it into my hands. Inside, the Contents page informs us that the issue's main articles include:
—Amplifier Power; How Much Is Enough?
—Antennas for Fringe-Area Multiplex
—How to Write…
The Pharcyde's "Otha Fish," from their crazily good 1993 album, Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde.
About a month ago, we met 17-year old audiophile, Sarah Witkowski, whose exceptional knowledge and appreciation of classic rock left many of us feeling happy and encouraged. (And left me feeling like I had a lot of catching up to do.)
However, I suspect there are many more young people like Sarah, people who love music and sound, and who can remind us of the elements of our enthusiasm. Take, for instance, 16-year old David MacRunnel.
"I am always striving for better sound, as I am obsessed with music and reproducing it accurately," says David.
In…